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The charter of the independent network all2all

Introduction

The independent network all2all is an initiative of the non-profit making assocation Moving Art Studio (a.s.b.l.). Moving Art Studio a.s.b.l. has been founded on January 1994 to promote visual arts. This has been achieved by setting up artist studios, the organisation of exhibitions, meetings and conferences. In the mid-nineties, Moving Art Studio has evolved progessively into the direction of electronic art, with for instance an exhibition-conference cycle on electronic money and public key cryptography. Soon the idea was born to extend the studio working spaces into Internet hosting spaces and to set up an autonomous IP network with its own bandwidth capacities. The all2all network has been set up at the end of November 1999. It has been created to support electronic arts and to offer an independent hosting infrastructure in contrast to the mainstream Belgian Internet market which had been exclusively commercial up to then. The all2all project has received a first founding and development subsidy from the cultural event Brussels 2000 - European City of Culture. After several artistic experiences on the Internet and a first contact with GNU/Linux, Moving Art Studio has decided to construct the all2all network exclusively from free and open source software. The ideas which guide the project are discussed hereafter.

Aim

As the name tells, the all2all project wants to establish a communication situation based on participation, from all to all. Therefore all2all develops an independent Internet network built exclusively from free and open source software, offering a high level of security, without commercial pressures and autonomous from a financial point of view.

The ethics of the all2all network is based on free expression of ideas and privacy protection of the users' data. No judgement of values should influence the admittance of hosting subscribers. They are free and self responsible of their contents according to the law. all2all does not pratice any prior censorship and in this context, does not suspend a site when there is no legal decision or an obvious crime or offence situation.

The all2all network is mainly aimed at alternative projects, non-profit making associations, NGO, artists, individuals and commercial companies with high ethical standards. It offers web hosting on shared servers, domain name management, Internet mail, and a hosting service for virtual private (VPS) and dedicated servers. Besides these primary services, the network is equiped with streaming servers for live audio and video broadcasts and for storing media archives. all2all also offers its know-how for onsite interventions helping with the configuration of network servers or organising knowledge transfers in the form of training, conferences, etc.

The financial participations payed by the network members serve to finance and develop the infrastructure in terms of new hardware and bandwidth. They also constitute the self financing of the project and enable it to refuse commercial advertisements and to maintain its neutrality and independance.

Structure and organisation of the all2all network's legal structure

The independent network all2all is headed by the non-profit making association Moving Art Studio which decides on all technical matters and ensures the day by day management of the project. The management and at last the conseil d'administration of Moving Art Studio are the ultimate decision organs of the association and exclusively empowered to represent the all2all project in any circumstance.

The statuts of association have been published for the first time in the Belgian Moniteur (Belgian legal bulletin) in January 1994. An summary update has been made at the end of the year 2005 and can be read on the all2all website. Until 2002 the association has received offical art grants from the Vlemish and French Communities of Belgium. Today the association evolves in a completely independent matter, all proposed services ensure its self-financing. There is no relgious, political, commercial, trade-unionist or simular link between the board members of Moving Art Studio. The board members gather exclusively because of a commun interest in electronic arts and free software.

Becoming a member of the network

Any individual or organisation who wants use the all2all network infrastructure can subscribe on the website: http://www.all2all.net/. The subscription can also be sent by e-mail to following address: support@all2all.org. At reception of the payment of the order, the subscriber will receive the access codes and can start using the hosting infrastructures.

Invoicing

Every financial transaction between the member and all2all is initiated with a written AR order. An invoice will be issued after the member's pre-payment has been received by all2all. All accounting documents (quotations, orders, invoices or reminders) are sent by e-mail. In certain cases these documents may be sent by postal mail too.

The invoices are established in the name of Moving Art Studio a.s.b.l. The association has taken a VAT number (BE 451 807 885) at its tax office. Every member of the network, after being authenticated, can receive an invoice history and an extract of the stored client data as recorded in the all2all database.

The financial participation fees have to be paid to the following bank account of Moving Art Studio a.s.b.l.:

DEXIA BANK

IBAN: BE98 0962 4450 5493

BIC: GKCCBEBB

Renewals

The renewal are send via an automatic invoice by email. The members are asked to inform all2all of any change in their email address. The renewal invoices are payable by default in 14 days follwing the invoice sending day. If all2all does not receive the renewal payment in 30 days, the access to the hosting space of the member can be blocked. After a delay of 60 days the member's data and all files can be deleted and the hosting space can be freed.

Overdued invoices concerning domain name (dns) renewals automatically will change the registration status to quarantaine. After the delay defined in the enduser terms of the Belgian dns system, the dns name will be freed and can be registered by someone else.

Concerning the dedicated servers, the payment delay of the renewal amounts is defined in the individual colocation contracts.

Domain name registrations (DNS) .be

all2all is an accredited DNS registry of DNS Belgium a.s.b.l. Moreover all2all has subscribed to the terms of DNS Belgium's Code of Conduct, called Domain Ethics. The registration of a .be domain name with all2all is not connected to the subscription of a web hosting plan. It is therefore possible to register a dns name at all2all and to host a corresponding website on another network or to just leave the name in stand-by mode. When a domain name is registered at all2all, all of DNS Belgium's Enduser Terms are automatically accepted and determine the relation between all2all and the holder of the dns name. A dns registration is payable in advance and based on a customer order. The yearly renewal invoices, which are send before the anniversary of the initial registration, have also to be paid in advance. Upon reception of the payment, all2all is engaged to register the domain name and to issue a customer invoice. To prevent forgotten registrations and other mistakes, the holder of the dns name will verify via a whois query if the dns name has effectively been registered with the correct contact data. If case of an error the taker will inform all2all.

Dedicated servers

The implementation of a new dedicated server is bound to the signing of an individual colocation contract between the member and all2all before taking the system online. This contract has to be signed at least during the online audit of the server. All aspects of the server administration are detailled in the contract, especially the elementary security mesures, the procedure to follow in an emergency, the contact persons, the price of optional services and extras.

When purchasing a personalised server, the user has to pay the amount of the hardware VAT included at the signature of the customer order. The remaining difference, corresponding to the software implementation and the first colocation fee, is dued the day after the online connection. If the invoicing starts in the middle of a month, only a pro rata of the colocation can be invoiced for this month.

If there is no other agreement, all2all is supposed to assemble, configure and to connect online the server system respecting a maximum delay of 15 working days, starting on the reception day of the advance payment (value date of bank statement). If all2all does not respect this maximum implementation delay, it has to refund the complete advance payment if the user requests so.

When the server system is ready the user and an all2all system administrator will meet for an online audit. This audit validates the different system hardware and software components, especially the system's security and the quality of the ordered hardware. During the audit the user validates each test sequence with a signature. Any remarks or observations can be indicated and enable the participants to make the last configurations of the system according to a new delay defined together. all2all informs the user via e-mail when the last problems have been solved. The server is considered to be online one week later when there has been no further reclamation.

If the server is exclusively administrated by the user (superuser access), there will be no online audit. This is the case for instance when the user only rents a rack bay, in which case the intervention of all2all is limited to a simple server housing in its data center and the IP uplink connection. Accordingly the whole system administration is done by the user.

Responsability of contents

all2all offers to everybody a free speech platform without any prior control. all2all does not verify a priori the content of Internet pages which are published on its network. Every user is therefore solely responsible for what he publishes or the information he serves via the all2all network. In exchange the user engages himself to respect the Belgian law and the rules of netiquette.

Engagement of the all2all project towards its members

Free and open source software

To promote a better technical compehension, cost control and access to information, all2all engages itself to use exclusively free and open source software, as well on its servers as on all of the team's client computers. Furthermore any software development of all2all/Moving Art Studio has to be published with an open source licence (type GPL), taking into account that the user can adapt, modify and freely distribute this software.

Environment

The hosting of web sites consumes energy, releases CO2 and produces waste. A reality which is somewhat obscured by the impression of immateriality of the electronic information on Internet. In order to limit our ecological footprint, we defined five means of action which we follow in our computer centers, but also at the office and during our displacements.

Use of renewable energy sources

Our 3 data centers in which we place our technical equipement are now completely neutral with respect to the climate using 100% of renewable energy and by implementing technologies aiming at saving energy.

Use of material with low energy consumption

Our new servers offer exceptional performance/energy ratios. Their microprocessors are cooled thanks to passive radiators which do not consume any energy. We take care to use components with ENERGY STAR and efficiant power supplies (currently 80 PLUS) label if possible.

In all all2all premisses low energy (light) bulbs are used.

Efficient use of the material

The energy consumption of a server depends little on its level of use. An under-utilized server produces thus energy loss in dissipation of heat. Thanks to our solutions of virtualized and shared hostings, the computer's resources are used in common and energy is less used. The same principle is true for the means of transport: a car with only one passenger, is a ton to move 70 kilos. This is why we use mainly public transport and two-wheeled vehicles for our displacements, and we only use cars if really necessary. Moreover the cars which we use do not belong to us, we participate in car sharing within the Cambio network.

The invoice system is electronic therefore paper ressources are saved.

Waste recycling

The electronics components are often polluting and expensive in energy during production, a truth on which we have little influence. On the other hand, the treatment of waste is our responsibility. This waste can contain particularly polluting elements like heavy metals, this is why we take care to integrate them in recycling programs specialized in the treatment of such waste.

Because all2all was defined right from the start as a network of general interest, we can affirm without ambiguity that for us, the safeguard of the environment is not a question of image but well of engagement and responsibility.

Privacy

When an email message is sent over the Internet it can travel over a series of intermediate servers between the sender and the receiver, each of these intermediate server can potentially keep a copy of the message. Therefore all2all uses and recommends public key cryptography for e-mail to ensure that all confidential information is protected while in transit.

all2all also prefers to send the access info for a hosting account by encrypted email. To decrypt this kind of message one needs to use a PGP software like GnuPG or WinPT (please refer to the excellent bundled english manual included with these software packages). The PGP system has an authentication function (electronic signature) too which allows to later reidentify a person as being authorised to access a hosting account. This permits for example to delegate the management of a website to another person by simply sending a signed message with one's PGP key (change of webdesigner, new team member, etc).

Security

Security is not a state but a work in progress. Security on the all2all network is in constant evolution. all2all engages itself to stay constantly informed about the latest technological evolutions and recent exploits in the domain of computer security.

But security is everybody's business. First thing to consider is to learn about password management. On this point, a manual can be found on the site of all2all explaining the management of passwords to prevent the most common errors. Any application installed in the web hosting space of a all2all's network member is under its sole responsibility. The member is in charge of the security of its softwares and updates that are needed. The all2all's network administrators may also send alerts or advices in relation to the security of its applications. The member agrees to follow these tips, especially if not following them put the whole server security in jeopardy (see terms of use of all2all). The member or his representative are expected to keep abreast of vulnerabilities that may affect their web applications, via the site of development of their applications, either via a site specializing in information security.

The section of the site all2all information is also used to publish the latest information on programs to monitor and regularly update. It may also notify the latest security updates done on servers all2all. An RSS feed will allow members to subscribe. We insist on the use of cryptographic software PGP and use of SSL to keep the transfers confidential. A direct access to the servers is also possible, based on SSH (Secure Shell), and allows the member to open a shell (console) and to use UNIX commands on the remote computer.

We strive to educate users to secure communication protocols and to migrate existing services towards more secure ones when possible:

Network

Each year, all2all negotiates with suppliers for new rates to take account of changes in the bandwidth market and get a quantity of Mbps in line with the growing demand of users (photo gallery, video streaming, podcasting). all2all attaches great importance to bandwidth provision and ensures that resources are always abundant and that the network is never saturated.

Unsollicited mail

The new all2all email systems have a powerful and scalable antispam tool to avoid receiving unsollicited mail. With the recent increase of unsollicited mail on Internet, it is unfortunately impossible to completely avoid the transfer of unsollicited mail. Indeed, spammer's strategies have become more and more refined and we have seen an adaptation of their technics to bypass antispam filters, including fragmented pictures, impossible to detect by a word-filtering tool. Spammers have developped tools to harvest email addresses from web sites by means of automated robots, in this context, it is strongly advised to "hide" email addresses on sites, for example via Javascript, to make them IRRECOVERABLE by spambots but still viewable by a human being.

The all2all Terms of Use set the position of all2all in relation to unsolicited emails sent by members of the network. Broadly speaking, spam is not tolerated by all2all. It should be noted however that there are situtations in which spam occurs without the knowledge of the member, eg because of a flaw in a web application which allows spambots to send unsolicited bulk email. In this case, the member must cooperate fully with the administrators all2all to fix the security hole.
all2all will adapt its policy according to future developments in this area and always in line with its ethical beliefs and its vision of the Internet.

Virus

Designed primarily for Windows users, all2all committed to set a tool for virus protectione-mail on its new servers. However, each user has to scan his system to detect viruses. The virus is not transmitted only by email, all2all can not guarantee 100% that the information traveling through its network are virus-free. Read also the Terms of Use of the all2all network on this subject.

User Data

all2all protects the confidentiality of user data and the network will not communicate any personal information about users or its services. In practice, user privacy is the rule with the exception of research that might take place to ensure unpaid debt or Belgian search warrants.

Support

all2all committed to respond to any request for assistance concerning the use of the network in a possible maximum of 24 hours on weekdays and during office hours. The weekend, this time can reach 48 hours depending on the size of the request. When this is a short, easy request, the solution may be given the next business day. Any support request must be sent to the unique address: .

Special support conditions on dedicated servers are detailed in the colocation contract.

Backup

Formulas for shared hosting, all2all agrees to keep a backup of relational databases for 31 days. Backup of web files (Unix file system) are saved by rotation every 24 hours, one month is archived. These backups are done on a backup server outside the computer center in which are installed servers all2all if possible. Thus the production servers and backup server are physically separated. This increases the usefulness of backup. The data is transferred over the network backup of all2all through an encrypted connection. All systems of hard disks on the servers to shared all2all are installed at least in a hardware RAID1.
For those who need it, a shorter backup interval or a greater security may be established by an individual agreement between the member and all2all.

Basic subscriptions about dedicated server do not include backup. If the user wants all2all to backup data, this will be done by special convention. By default, the user of a dedicated system with a privileged access is supposed to manage backups himself.

Documentation and information

all2all has set up the information and documentation covering all aspects of software and technology used on its network. By a system of frequently asked questions (FAQ) and manuals , all2all has set an electronic library that allows users to easily access information online about the different means of communication offered by Internet and about free software.

Contributors of all2all write and publish content on the News section website. To facilitate feedback and interaction with users, all2all uses a content management system which allows for instant updating and offers open access to users who wish to contribute.

In addition, network users all2all are automatically included in a mailing list of low traffic which reports interruptions of services, scheduled maintenance and any alerts about Web applications running. If the user is a group, he should it designate at least one subscriber to this list. The subscription may also be made by the user himself at:

Solidarity fund

The financial contributions paid by members of the network is also a solidarity fund for relevant initiatives of individuals or groups wishing to build and host a website but do not have the financial resources necessary for its accommodation. The relevance of the initiative is left to the appreciation the Board of Management of Moving Art Studio asbl which may decide to provide logistical support on the basis of a written application.